A teenager taken down by Mounties in a case of mistaken identity says she was on her way to a job interview when she found herself handcuffed and face-down on the pavement.

The 16-year-old, who preferred not to be identified by name, was arrested April 28 at the Newton bus loop in Surrey. Cellphone video of the arrest shows her lying face down on the ground, arms handcuffed behind her back, with two RCMP officers kneeling above her.

She can be heard crying and saying, "You're f--king putting me under arrest for something I didn't f--king do."

She asks what they're doing as one of the officers goes through her purse, and shouts that the handcuffs are so tight.

The Grade 11 student told CTV News she was on her way to a job interview after school. She was hoping to land a part-time position, and had a letter from her parents saying they'd given their consent. She needed to take two buses to get to the meeting.

"He starts telling me I'm a mental health patient and I had to come with him," she said of what happened off-camera.

"I said I didn't know what he was talking about."

She said that the officers never asked her for an ID, but she would have provided one if asked.

Scared, she started to back away.

"He just grabbed me and put me on the floor," she said. "Throughout the whole thing I was panicking. It was a really scary situation to be in."

She said she remembers her makeup smearing on the sidewalk, and that she thought she was "done for," having seen incidents of police brutality cases in the U.S.

Police have provided few details about what happened before the incident caught on video, but said Surrey RCMP were called to the scene after receiving information about a person wanted on a Mental Health Act warrant.

"There were concerns for the individual's health, safety and well-being," Surrey RCMP Sgt. Alanna Dunlop said in a statement.

The girl happened to match the description of the person they were looking for, RCMP said. When they realized the teen was not who they were looking for, she was "released immediately."

The girl's mother, Ruth Auguste, said she couldn't bring herself to watch the cellphone video of the arrest, which was later posted on Facebook.

"This was my daughter. She's not a criminal," Ruth said.

The video of the troubling arrest does not show how she ended up on the ground, but the man who shot it said there was no question that police went too far.

"There had to have been another way," Ash Hotti said.

He was heard in the video saying, "You guys threw her down. There's two of you, one teenage girl."

Hotti said when it was over the officers just walked away without apologizing. The teen said she'd asked for their names when they took the cuffs off, but they left without telling her.

The teen's father, Garry Auguste, is a former police officer, and said he hopes a public apology will be made. Her parents said they can't understand why the officers are still on duty.

A formal complaint has been filed, and the RCMP is gathering more information. Senior investigators have met with the family and will continue to be in contact, police said.

"It is extremely unfortunate that this situation occurred and we are certainly mindful of her young age and how upsetting this was for her and her family," Supt. Ed Boettcher said.

"I can assure you that we have resources dedicated to investigating this incident and we are gathering information to address all their concerns."

Anyone with more information on the incident is asked to contact police at 604-599-0502 or to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

With a report from CTV Vancouver's David Molko